12487/The Breakup (pt 3): Bargaining (again)

The Breakup (pt 3): Bargaining (again)
Date of Scene:	18 August 2022
Location:	6A - Janet's Condo
Synopsis:	Emma descends onto Janet's penthouse and bullies the socialite into some self-care. It's not quite as fun as mud baths and mimosas... but it is a true expression of the love from a very long friendship.
Cast of Characters:	Janet van Dyne, Emma Frost

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Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet had sat alone and forlorn in her penthouse for forty-eight hours before the news broke. Much as she tried to hide, friends had started swarming out of the woodwork to check on her. Finally, the next day, she'd gotten a new phone (several having been destroyed in fits of pique) and had sent a Facebook update out to the very narrow circle of people who had access to her private, personal account.

Much as the spa day had helped, Janet's sunk back into her funk pretty quickly. She's right back where she was the day prior, in a messy pile of empty food containers and warm blankets, tucked up next to the fireplace in the corner of her living room and surrounded by the 15'-tall windows that provide an uninterrupted view of Manhattan below.

Emma Frost has posed:
Fortunately Janet hadn't removed her passcode. Emma was clearly not going to bypass any sort of security nor might Janet let her in if she knocked. But, she still had a backup plan just in case if she needed her friend to open up. Door sliding open, Emma goes up the stairs, knocking along the wall to make sure her presence was heard.

"Janet, I'm on my way up." Emma's normal English accent fading to more of the old Boston accent she'd had when she was young and when she was dumb.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"'kay."

Well it's a tepid response, but she doesn't just throw something at her oldest girlfriend. Janet's buried in a pile of blankets and looking out the window, the shading automatically tinting them darker to compensate for the afternoon sun. Her personal team is clearly interdicting periodically to keep her from wallowing in trash. Given the number of empty liquor bottles and paraphernlia around her-- and the empty containers of dense, high-end gelato around her-- she's sunk right back into trying to gorge herself on self-indulgence. No makeup, and completely unflattering clothing, but it does look like she just had a spa trip and has reclaimed her old pixie-cut hairstyle, with the addition of some artfully layered tips that go from dark brown to a brilliant wasp yellow.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would walk on in and glance at Janet, "You look miserable." Seeing Janet over in a pile and barely coherent. "Get up or I can get you up. If we're going to have a conversation then I Need you capable of responding to me sensically." She would offer a hand down. "Do you need help getting to the shower? THrow that outfit off on our way there, it needs to be burnt. I know where you keep your bathrobes to have out when you're ready." Before she could find out what was going on, she needed to make sure that Janet was responsive.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet slowly turns her head up to Emma at the implied threat. Her eyes narrow minutely. The flighty socialite is pretty good at keeping her thoughts to herself, but it doesn't take a psychic to pick up on the flickering little contemplation of violence that runs through her eyes.

A second later she sighs and accepts the hand up, shedding the blankets and containers as she stands. "I hate you," she says with a complete lack of sincerity, and hugs Emma tightly with a weary but sincere gratitude.

"But please don't Conversation at me, okay? I'm ... I'm dealing. It's fine. I mean, no, it's not fine and everything is fucking horrible, and I'm swinging between being like, coke manic and totally depressed, but..."

She heads to the hallway on the other side of the living room, purposefully avoiding the stairs that lead up to her master suite. Instead she heads into the guest bath and sheds clothing as she goes. The pile of comfy jammies is kicked out of her way. Janet stands in the open-air shower, partially obscured by the light frosting on the glass.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod over at Janet, "Yes, yes, you're dealing." Emma's tone has heavy hands of doubt but now is not the time to push it. "Just I need to talk to you and it helps if you don't look like a feral Canadian and smell just as bad. I need to -talk- to you Janet and that means I need to have you in a state where you can reply to me. All right?"

She goes to kick away the clothes and goes to wait outside the door to the bathroom, "Take your time." Emma goes to grab out some fruit juice and a few of the sandwiches kept on hand for late night munchies when working to give some solid food." Going to set them over she would sit over on the bed and wait. Not in any rush. Not checking in or saying anything. Not saying she was worried or asking what was up.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"I don't smell *that* bad," Janet objects from under the flow of water. "I went to the spa yesterday. Which, by the way, you missed out," she informs Emma. "It was a ton of fun. We laughed, I cried, I got a mud bath, cried some more, and blacked out at some point, I think."

Janet does bypass most of her (laborious) cleaning rituals, just soaping herself up and rinsing it off. She's in there for a few minutes and then the water squeaks off. She steps out of the shower and eyes Emma on the guest bed. "...Are you my nutrionist now, too?" Janet picks up a towel on her way and wraps it around her chest, then another one to reach up and start drying her hair. Advantage of a pixie cut: dry time is cut down *considerably*. Still, out of habit, she starts wrapping the towel over her brow a a minute later to help it dry.

Janet sits down on the bed on the other side of the tray of food, tucking one foot under her thigh, and reaches for the glass of juice. She takes a sip, winces, looks at it, then at Emma.

"This is just juice," she protests.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would glance at Janet, "Yes you do, Janet. And I'm well aware of your levels of functionality. But I need you coherent for when I check you over for outside influences. I'm reasonably sure that your security could pick up anything technological in nature, but I need to assess you psionically." That was how Emma was justifying her presence here over to Janet if the other woman needed a bit of nudging.

"And yes, it is. Before you go on another run you need to make usre you're properly hydrated and you have food. What was it you used to taunt me all about during break when I was in boarding school?" SHe would let Janet take a sip.

"You've been at this I presume for roughly four days and while your physiology can take it you don't want ot push yourself over to the point you have a physical breakdown and thus have several hours if not days when you can't imbide. Pacing, darling."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"If I'd known you were gonna turn into a nursemaid, I would have taunted you a lot more," Janet mutters darkly.

She picks up a sandwich, looks at it, and then looks at Emma. "Stay out of my brain," she says, flatly. "I'm not compromised or being manipulated. I'm fucking heartbroken, okay? St--.." she clears her throat, looks at the sandwich. She offers the other half to Emma as an apologetic peace offering. Then, perhaps as a more significant gesture, she starts eating the food to demonstrate that she isn't being non-compliant.

Just bitchy.

"He dumped me, okay?" she says, finally. "I was... I was dealing with the Sugar situation." Emma knows well of the amateur pharmacist who deals out of Janet's nightclub. "And it got kinda, y'know, complicated. S-- /he/ found out, and showed up, and Arthur kinda had to ICER him," she says with an uncomfortable shift of her weight. "Then he showed up here, and we started arguing, and yelling, and then he said some shitty stuff and I did and then it just..." She looks down at the sandwich and her arm goes limp again, like holding it aloft is just too much effort.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod over at Janet, "I wasn't aware of that. I needed to make sure that you weren't being coerced or manipulated." Janet would know that the X-Men had spent weeks dealing with a telepathic eldritch abomination and was still paranoid after it.

She would lean back, "And is it something you want to talk about with me or not?" Emma wasn't going to push Janet into anything. She was an adult and she deserved her privacy if she wanted it. But the offer was extended to help if needed.

Crossing one leg over the other and resting her hands on her lap.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"No, I... I don't know. It's all this La Madrina shit," Janet tells Emma-- one of a very few people aware of her little side gig. Shoulders shrug, slump again. "I thought... I mean, he's..." Janet's lips press together. "Well. He's seen how much I love nose candy," she finishes, lamely.

"Did I fuck this up? I mean for real, Em, should I have told him and ... dragged him into all this shit?" she says, almost afraid of the answer. "It's not impossible this all blows back on me. If he didn't know, he couldn't get indicted or charged as an accessory. I know I could duck a conviction but what would it have done to his reputation, having to carry me through all that?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would lean back over and sit back, "Yes, you should have told him. He could have helped you or done something. The man doesn't care about his reputation, he cares of doing what's right. And you adore him and love him to death. Your heart was in the right place of not wanting to do anything that would hurt hi or make people look down on him. Yes, you should have told him, but you did what you did with the intent of protexcting him and trying to keep him safe."

Emma's being direct on one hand and understanding on the other. "There are consequences on both ends, I fear."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet looks at the food, then drops the sandwhich and gets up. "I'm gonna go over to his place," she tells Emma. "I'll tell him-- I'll tell him I'm sorry, and he was right, and...."

She walks out of the guest room and heads up the stairs, two at a time, and plunges into her closet to start trying to pick out clothing. "I can fix this, Emma, I know I can," she says once she hears Emma entering the room in her wake. "I'll apologize and tell him I'm sorry, and ... I'll /beg/ him to take me back, I don't even care," she says. Her hands are trembling violently, and she starts tearing through her clothing and making a mess of her substantial wardrobe as she tries to find just the right outfit to go over and plead her case. Tears gather in the corners of her eyes and she spares the barest effort to dash them away.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would shake her head over while going over and moving to take a hand to Janet's shoulder to try and slow her, "Janet, stop. You're in no state to go and talk to anyone. You're a wreck mentally and physically. You need to get some solid food in you, and I presume you haven't slept in four days either." She goes to try and keep her hand if allowed. "And you can't make anyone -do- anything." SHe would twitch her lips upwards in a half smile. "That's my power. But you're in no state to go and see anyone or do anything. Do you trust me?"

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet slows, then halts, that lead weight coming back to her arms. She is absolutely crying, and when Emma turns Janet towards the blonde, she looks up at the ceiling with a miserable, flush-faced expression, trying to stop the tears.

It's embarassing to cry in front of Emma Frost, after all.

"...You know I do," Janet tells Emma, finally. "Forever and always." She looks at her friend and flashes a wan, trembling little smile. "God, I hate you," she accuses with a total lack of malice. "You came over here and dragged me out of a good numb funk, the least you could do is--" she gestures at her friend. "Not look so perfect."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would sigh over, "I've spent a lot of time, effort, and energy being perfect, Janet. You should know, you were the one that helped me with it." Gone for now is the persona of the ever-in control bitch and frigid, all-knowing diva that Emma presents to th world. All there is now is the tired woman that has known Janet since boarding school and nearly half her life.

"Come on. And we've both been through worse. Breathe and rest. You need to shut down and process some things, darling. And that means unfortunately having to deal with them."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"...I'unnwanna," Janet complains, but flops down on the seat of her bed. "I wanna drop some molly, sneak into the Ranger's locker room, and snort lines off of Henrik Lundqvist's abs." She tugs on her towel, rearranging it and cinching it shut again, and then pulls the other one off her hair to tousle it with her fingertips.

"I can't deal with ... this. Not yet," Janet tells Emma, her voice taking on a rare note: defeat. "It's all too much. I haven't slept because I can't sleep in *here*, because he's still--" she looks around the room. Men's clothes on the bureau, a shirt hanging from the closet. Two dents in the unmade bed, one heavier than the other. A whiff of some masculine cologne or body spray. Janet reaches up to her neckline unconsciously, looking for the shield-painted pendant she's worn everywhere the last three years. There's a moment of panic as if she'd dropped it-- and then she remembers that it, like Steve, is gone for good, and falls backwards onto her bed with a thousand-yard stare up at the ceiling.

"Can you just--" she makes a vague snipping gesture with her hand. "Just burn it out of my brain? Like that time we did all that herbal tea when they said they'd drug test us."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would go to let out a sigh, "I can if you want me to. But that won't help in the long term unless you want me to selectively edit out parts of your memory. I can, at least shut down temporarily the associations in your consciousness that match here to your encounters with him for a day or two if that would help." Blocking out specific senses and memory associations was one of the first things one did as a telepath as they figured out how.
    Why waste life dealing with consequences when you're found out? An arm would go up to rest on Janet's shoulder to give a squeeze. "And yes, I do remember that. I've also gotten considerably better since then with my abilities and you've come up with a far higher physical tolerance. If you wish I can shut you down mentally so you can sleep and turn off parts of your subconscious to not dwell on things."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"...you can do that?" Janet says, wondering aloud. "Just..." she looks at Emma, then props herself up on her elbows with an uncertain expression on her face. "I..." she frets her lower lip, looks up at Emma.

"I don't know," she admits, finally. "It hurts. It hurts so goddamn much. But I deserve it, don't I? This is what I get for fucking with him. I finally pushed him too hard and..."

She sits up and tugs her knees to her chest, hands interlacing in front of her shins. "I know I'm... probably hitting the drugs and booze too hard," she admits. "I want to be numb. It'll hurt tomorrow. I'm just trying to kick some of it down the road."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod at Janet, "Yes, an all too common way of handling things. However, Janet. . You are going to need to resolve this. Not going into your own sense of pain and anguish on the matter, you will have to deal with it on a structural level. If not for yourself.. Then for La Madrina, for the Avengers, for Nadia. And I fear that you will have to do so in short order before things collapse more. All those gangs aren't going to stay placid for long, and if you're in such an exhausted and defeated mental state you'll make a mistake and shatter the peace you've established for the moment."

Janet may not care particularly about herself or her own coping mechanisms, but there were other things that could be pressed on.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet scrubs her face with her palms. "Yeah, I... fuck. There's a half a billion dollars of cocaine in my safe room," she tells Emma. "Like... thirty-thousand kilos. Thirty tonnes. Shrank down the shipping containers and walked them out in my purse," she admits. "That's a lot of high-value product, even by our standards. Though I did just steal most of it," she concedes.

Janet sighs again, looking at her knees, then over at Emma. "Okay. Yeah. Pepper wants me to come by tonight after ten or so. Having some downtime would be...nice."

"You gonna stay and make sure I don't do anything else stupid and reckless?" she inquires, lips curling into a hint of a smile.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would sigh, "I'm going to try, Janet." She would quip, "We both know that I'm rather inadequate at that. Also I'm going to say that you -need- to take someone else into your confidence in this. If only to be a backup in handling these operations and to ensure that you're getting second opinions on things. And no, that's not going to be me." her tone would be firm but amused.

"I do, however, think that you spending some time with Pepper will be for the best for your emotional state. And to reassure all of your friend's that you're all right even if you don't want to talk on things. And you need to get some sleep before then and have your staff clean here out some or have a cover story for why you're not meeting her in your penthouse."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would add, "And I fear your state is quite bad. You were wearing clothes off the rack from Wal-Mart by the tags."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Hey, if no one's around to appreciate my lingerie, I'm not wearing it to bed," Janet tells Emma with a more familiar irritated tone. "Sometimes I just need some jammies that are warm and comfy."

She scoots to the edge of the bed and rises. Her towel is undone and tossed onto the back of the chair at her vanity. In deference to Emma's sense of fashion, she dons a pair of silken black sleeping shorts and a somewhat presentable camisole top. She turns to Emma, gestures at herself with one knee instinctively tucked inwards for a model's pose. "Better?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would smile, "Much better. I was worired that you had been taken over by some sort of clone or doppelganger. I can understand you slumming around but even you need minimal standards." A tease, a light jest to make sure that Janet was doing better mentally.

"So do you want em to spend the night and call it a sleepover? And if we do I'm going to have to insist you don't consume more, darling."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet makes a face at that caveat. "Fine, I'll ... lay off the sauce for a day," she concedes. "As long as you keep me on the ... y'know, cool and mellow." She glances at the luxury clock display next to her bed. "Pepper said I should come by at nine, that's... what, ten hours from now," she says, and knee-walks onto the bed next to Emma before sitting back on her heels.

"You really don't need to stay here all day, Ems," Janet says in a quieter tone. "I know you want to but I can get by. You've had a lot of shit going on and if anyone knows how much work it is when the boss gets back to her desk, it's me."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod, "I'll stay until you're asleep then and make sure you're not having anything traumatic hit you while you're asleep so I can adjust your mind if you need me to. And I don't have anything that I can't handle remotely." The joys of being a telepathic business executive and remote work.

"I'm here if you need me and if it would help you. At least make sure you also let Pepper get in touch with everyone after this to let them know that you're all right. I'm not sure how quite familiar she is with your methods of coping or not."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"I figured all you catty bitches already had a group text going about me," Janet assures Emma-- and there's a little glimmer of that towering confidence again, firmly assured that she is at her right and proper place at the center of everyone else's universe.

"Okay. You get some popcorn and some..." she grimaces. "/Water/, I guess, and I'll get the movie going," she tells Emma. Janet picks up a remote and taps the button, and the part of the wall across from the bed opens up and a TV set the size of her armspan extends out from it.

Emma Frost has posed:
Janet has some of her confidence back and is less emotoinally shattered. Or at least focus. "All right, one movie, then you get some sleep in and have someone sent up to clean this place or at least make it less of a pigsty. We both know that Pepper will start cleaning it herself an dthe poor woman already has to take care of one full lunatic after all."

She goes to settle back. "And what monstrocity of an art pic are we going to surveil this morning?"

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet rolls her eyes and reaches over to hit the intercom. "Claire, Emma says I have to sleep. Send the cleaners up please and tidy up around the living room," she orders her assistant.

"<Tell Miss Frost we're grateful for her assistance,>" comes the amused response.

"You're fired," Janet tells Claire. "After you pick up my mess. And bring some sparkling water up. Oh, and I'm gonna be going to Themyscira sometime in the next week or two, so start pushing appointments around. Then I'll fire you."

"<Of course, Miss Dyne,>" comes the unflappable response, and Janet just shakes her head and releases the button.

"I'm losing my edge. She hasn't fallen for that line in months," Janet tells Emma, and reclines back and curls comfortably into the blonde telepath to rest her head on Emma's shoulder. "If I'm turning my brain off, I wanna watch something with zero romance, feels, or complex plots. So... Jack Black it is," she declares, and picks 'Tenacious D' from the options.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would sigh, "Well, better than the phase you went through with Adam Sandler." Emma would intone over. "And Jack Black it is. And here I thought you would be watching something like Masters of the Universe or My Little Pony." Emma makes no judgements in her tone. What Janet watches to relax is her own business. And for the sake of her oldest (still living and generally sane) friend, Emma can go along with it.

Going to settle in. "Well, you could but she knows all your secrets. That includes no doubt the passwords to your wifi system. And you're too dignified to think of asking Nadia to reset it for you. Remember, your continued existence and dignity depends purely on whether your administrative assistant continues to believe that you are worth keeping them entertained with."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Oh god. Nadia. She's on a retreat with the GIRLs," Janet tells Emma, and covers her eyes with her hand. "She's gonna be back in the next couple days. She'll be so bummed out, she really liked St-- you know who. Called him 'Captain Stepdad'." Janet reaches for her collarbone (again), finds her necklace (still) missing, and mutters some dark profanity under her breath.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would take her hand out and over to rub at Janet's shoulder, "Quite likely. And you'll likely have to tlak to her on it and she's going to have to figure it out for herself. And I'm not going to step in on that and tell you how to handle it. Nor be able to give you any perspective on it." Of the many things she was and wasn't.. Emma was not a mother. Nor did she admit, in all honesty, that she had the emotional capability for familial level emotional bonds.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Emma I love you forever, but the day I come to you for maternal advice, -that- is when you know I've been compromised," Janet tells her friend. She lifts her hand and smiles wryly up at the blonde, then reaches across to give her proud cheekbones a gentle touch to take the sting out of her words.

"Okay. Nuff talk. Turn this off, lemme enjoy my movie, and don't spend too much time rooting around in places you aren't allowed. I /will/ traumatize you again, and you know I can," Janet tells Emma with a largely empty threat.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would lean back over, "Yes, yes, I'm aware. You've seen me in my ups and downs, I know precisely the sort of blackmail you have at your fingertips should you wish to use it." Emma playfully goes quiet and moves to lean back over on the bed.

She's given what is likely her closest friend some sort of peace, at least for a few hours. It's one of the rare good deeds that she actually feels right about.